Sectional warp beam



March 24, 1931. R. R. HALL 1,797,955

SECTIONAL WARP BEAM Filed June 25, 1929 In l/enl'a l WU Q Patented Mar. 24, 1931 RALPH a. HALL, or otzroeeo, tnnrnois SECTIONAL. WARP BEAM Application filed June 215 1 929 SerialyN'o. 313,631.

My invention relates to warp beams for looms, and in some ofits general objects aims to provide a warpbeam which will prevent a tangling oji'the W IP threads,whichwillread- I ily permit a separate tensioning of difi'erent sections of the warp, and which will greatly fac lita both the, d ning d e ar o its Qf't Warp. W e r i is des r d In foot looms, the warp threads are usually wound on a single beam of considerable length, thereby requiring considerable time for any careful winding. Even with such tedious winding, it is dii'ficult to keep the proper threads side by side; so that in prac- 1 tice, some of the threads usually tangle and tear, thereby requiring time for joining the ends of the torn threads.

Moreover, when threads of diiierent colors i are used for di'iierent sections of the warp, the 2 varying effect of the several dyes on the threads'causes these to tension diierently, thereby increasing the difiicultyof operating the loom. So also, the usual singlepiece 4 warp beam does not permit a ready substitution of threads of other colors for any section of the warp in case this is desired as the work progresses. Furthermore, since the warp beam customarily is initially wound with an excessive length of thread in proportion to that required for the proposed fabric, considerable time has to be spent in unwinding the surplus from the warp before this beam can be rewound-to afford a new ar- H e v rangement of the variously colored sections of the warp.

My present invention aims to, overcome all of the above recited objections by providing separate and interchangeable spools on each A of which the thread for a single Warp section is wound, by providing simple means for rotating all of these warp spools from the usual beam rotating sprocket, by providing simple means whereby any spool'may be released from the driving connection to permit the threads on each spool to be tensioned independently of the threads on the other spools, and by providing-the spools with relatively interlocking means arranged for permitting consider-able variations in the readjustment 590% the tensioning. Moreover, my invention aims to provide simple means for normally h ding the sp d h d iv g sprocke relatively interlocked disposition, and for detaching these means to permit a separation of h p ols w e he ehsiqh hg lot? the threads is to be adjusted.

titil ru h a also ore "clfith 'lh'dqblt i Wiil' appea from, e fe iow hg a? sa 'eli nd rom h a c mpany ng draw ngs. which I Fig: 1 s a fragme ry p an vi w Qtithelet Qfi' d; portion- Qf le l iequiphed th invention. 2 is a Side e1evat h.,ftak n from th ine 22. of ia. lv v 3 is a ica section, take irqm t e n fiF a. 1-.

h s 4 is gmentary vert ca s t iioh. taken thr ug the axi of th tam, along the line of Fig. 17.. I igis a P rspe ve viewof th taehb pac r, h rem val, of whi h permits spools of my warp beam tobe' slid out 'oifin' t l' c n engag ent i he spo ls In e il s a d e im nt. each. s de. ame 1 0f e m c rrie b ring 2 tastfined: t h t fram y e ahha le $r W $pa hs thes eari g and i hr-nalied; them is a shaft 5 which extendssuoc'essive ly hr ug h h b 6 f the arp p 'ols' a through the bore of the driving'sprocket 13, thissprocket being normally spaced from the iae ng 2 by a e a able Spa er 7' which is pictured separately in Eig, '5 "To. reduce the friction I may inter'pose a washerl8 between the spacer and the adjacent bearing,

and may likewise interpose a second washer 8A between th c mpa o hear ng ..A and; the warp spool adjacent to the latter'bearing.

Each warp spool 'comprisestwo washer-like ends 9, desirably made of fibre. and fastened to the ends of a hub 6', and the entire spools desirably are counterparts of each other. Driven into one end of each hub (i parall'el to the axis of the hub and projecting beyond that hub is a latching pin 10, While the other end of each hub has at least one (and desire ably more). bores 11 spaced from the axisof the'hub by the same distance as the latching pin 10, each of these bores being of such a size that the projecting part of the pin 10 on an adjacent spool hub can socket in that bore. These bores are shown in Fig. 8 as four in number and as uniformly spaced. The sprocket 18 also has bore 11 of similar size and similar spacing from the axis of the sprocket, extending into the latte from the side of the sprocket which is adjacent to the spools.

To connect the driving sprocket 13 operatively with the shaft 5, I desirably provide this sprocket with a hub 14 (Fig. I) extending toward the adjacent side frame member 1, which hub has a recess 15 fitting an inwardly directed projection 16 on the spacer 7. Then I secure this spacer to the shaft 5 by-a bolt 17 extending transversely of the shaft through both the shaft and the projection 16.

I'Vith the let-off end of a loom thus ar ranged, the threads 18 for each warp section are wound on the separate spools before the spools are slipped on the shaft. Since the number of parallel threads on each spool is only a small fraction of the total number of warp threads, this winding is easily effected with uniformity for the threads and with no crossing of the threads. Moreover, the spools can be rotated by a motor-driven or footdriven spindle during the winding, thereby reducing the required time When the assembly is completed as in Fig. 1, each spool is interlocked by its projecting latch pin 10 with the spool at its left, and the spool at the extreme left is similarly interlocked with the sprocket 13. Consequently, the movement of the sprocket by the usual drive chain 19 will rotate all of the spools conjointly, thus feeding the threads just as if they had been wound on the usual singlepiece warp beam. However, the warp threads on each spool are initially spaced from those on each adjacent spool by the thickness of two of the spool ends 9, thereby still further reducing the chance of any enta'ngling of the threads.

If the several (spool-wide) sections of the warp threads tension unevenly during the operation of the loom, the bolt 17 is detached, thereby permitting the spacer (of Fig. 5) to be removed by sliding it 05 the shaft radially.

of the latter. This leaves a free space between the washer 8 and the hublt of the sprocket,

corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 7 and the sprocket 13 can then be slid over to the same extent (to the left in Fig. 1) against the washer 8. By, doing this, and by preferably making the thickness of the spacer 7 several times the length of the projecting portions of the latch pins 11, I provide room for spacing any desired spool freely from adjacent spools, thus permitting any spool to be rotated in either direction for increasing or decreasing the tension of the threads fed it.

Forexample, if the user of the loom finds that the warp threads fed from a given spool are more slack than those supplied by the other spools, he detaches the spacer member 7, slides the sprocket away from the spools, and slides the spools so as to release the said slack-thread spool fromits interlocking with the spools between which it is interposed. He then can rotate the slack-thread spool to tension its threads in substantial harmony with the threads leading from the adjacent spools, and to such a degree depending on the number of sockets or bores 11 in each spool end, after which he again slides all spools and the sprocket into interlocking assembly with each other and replaces the spacer. If the tension of threads from one spool is greater than that from the adjacent spools, the adjustment is similarly made by rotating the highertensioned spool in the opposite or thread-slackening direction. Since this can all be done without removing the warp beam from its bearings and without disturbing the tension of the threads leading from other spools, the entire time required for such an equalizing of the tension of threads on difierent'spools is only a small fraction of that required with the provisions heretofore in use.

When the tensioning has thus been made approximately uniform for the threads from all of the spools, each spool is again interlocked with the adjacent ones, after which the sprocket is slid back into interlocking engagement with the pin on the spool adjacent to it, the spacer is slipped back into position, and the bolt 17 is again attached. By providing a plurality of counterpart sockets or bores 11 in each spool, I can readily secure a suitably fine adjustment of the tensioning, so that I eliminate the need of weights, springs or counterbalances as tension equallzers.

IVh en the warp is to be narrowed, the threads fed from certain of thespools are severed and these spools can then be left to lo tate freely. Then when the warp is to be widened, threads fed from previously idle spools are added to the warp, so that I greatly facilitate such changes in the width of the fabric, as I eliminate the heretofore required entire rewarping of the loom.

By detaching the bearings 8 from the loom sides and likewise detaching the spacerand the sprocket from the shaft, I permit part or all of the spools to he slid 0E the shaft, so that these can readily be replaced by other spools carrying either duplicate or difierent threads.

Since the needed spools are cheaply manufactured, the loom user can carry a supply of spools wound with various kinds and colors of threads, without incurring any large investment, thereby enabling him to proceed expeditiously with a variety of work. Moreover, by using a row of such interlocking spools instead of a single warp beam, I eliminate the heretofore required (and undesirably tedious) winding of a warp chain, so that I add greatly to the enjoyment of a loom by amateurs.

In practice, I desirably construct my spools with an inch spacing between the two ends of each spool (which facilitates the work, since weaving is usually figured according to the number of threads per inch) and correspondingly proportion the distance between the bearings for the shaft.

By fastening the sprocket to the shaft and interlocking the sprocket with the row of consecutively interlocking spools, I cause the shaft to rotate with the spools, so that there is no wear on the bores of the spool hubs, thus permitting me to use Wooden hubs for the spools.

However, I do not wish to be limited in this respect, nor to the use of my invention in connection with foot looms. Nor do I wish to be limited to other details of the construction and arrangement above described, since many changes might be made without departing either from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a loom, a shaft; a row of warp-carrying spools slidably carried by the shaft, each spool including a hub and two ends, and each spool having one end abutting against the end of an adjacent spool; each spool having a socketing bore in the right-hand end of its hub and having in its left-hand end a pin projecting beyond the hub parallel to the axis of the spool and formed for entering the socketing bore in the next spool at the left of the aforesaid spool; a driving sprocket adjacent to the left end of the row of spools and slidably carried by the shaft, the sprocket having a socketing bore normally entered by the pin projecting from the left-hand end spool of the row, means adjacent to the right-hand end spool for preventing a sliding of the last named spool toward the right, and releasable 1 means associated with the sprocket to pre vent a sliding of the sprocket toward the left, the releasable means being of greater dimension longitudinally of the shaft than the distance to which the pin 011 any spool projects beyond the hub of that spool.

2. In a loom, a shaft; a row of warp-carrying spools rotatable'upon and slidably carried by the shaft; means associated with each spool for interlocking the spool against rota- 4 tion with respect to an adjacent spool, the

said means being released by sliding one spool away from an adjacent spool; means adjacent to one end of the row of spools for limiting the row of spools from sliding toward that end, a sprocket slidable on the shaft and interlocked against rotation with the spool at the other end of the row,a stop near and outward of the sprocket, and a detachable spacer normally interposed between the stop and the sprocket, and normally holding the sprocket interlocked with the last named spool, the spacer being detachable by a movementradiallyofthe, shaft-,w-ithouttremoving; the spoolsor sprocket from the, shaft.

3. A loom partassembly" as per ,claimQ,

housed by the recess to prevent rotation of the, sprocket with respect to the spacer, in combination with a detachable fastening member extending "both through the shaft and through the said projection on the spacer.

5-. ilnia lo,on1;,,,t-w0 rigidly spaced side members, a shaft spanning and journaled in the two side members, a row of warp-carrying spools slidably carried by the shaft between V the two side members, a driving member mounted on the shaft between one side member and one end of the row of spools; the driving member being formed for interlocking against rotation with the spool adjacent to it, and each spool being formed for interlocking against rotation with an adjacent spool, the joint length of the row of spools and of the driving member being less than the spacing between the said side members, and a detachable spacer interposed between the driving. member and the adjacent side member for holding the driving member and the spools in their said interlocked disposition.

6. In a warp beam for a loom, a shaft;a row of Warp-carrying spools slidably carried by and rotatable upon the shaft, each spool having a projection disposed for interlocking in any one of a plurality of rotationally different positions with the adjacent spool to. prevent relative rotation of the spools, and means interlocking with the spool at one end of the said row for imparting rotation to that spool.

7 In a warp beam for a loom, a shaft; a

row of warp-carryin spools slidably carried by and rotatable upon the shaft, each spool having a projection disposed for interlocking in any one of a plurality of rotationally different positions with the adjacent spool to prevent relative rotation of the spools, a sprocket slidable on the shaft and interlocked with the spool at one end of the said row for impartingrotation to that spool by means releasable upon a sliding of the sprocket away from that end spool, and releasable means normally holding the sprocket in interlocking relation to the said end spool.

8. In a warp beam for a loom, a shaft, a

row of counterpart warp-carrying spools slidably carried by and rotatable upon the shaft, each spool having a pin projecting from one end of the spool and having at its other end a socket entered by the .pin on an adjacent spool, and means associated With an end spool of the said row for rotating the said end spool.

9. In a Warp beam for a loom, a shaft,

a row of counterpart Warp-carrying spools slida-bly carried by the shaft; each spool having a pin projecting from one end of the spool and having at its other end a plurality of sockets spaced circumferentially of the spool, each socket being adapted to be entered ,5 by the pin on an adjacent spool, and means associated With one of the spools for impartin rotation to the last named spool.

igned at Chicago, Illinois, June 20th,

RALPH R. HALL. 

